


So You're Dating Your Coworker

by Ronoken



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is a good kid, Bit o smut, F/M, Fluff, Hot Mess, Identity Reveal, Marinette is a disaster human, Plagg is a Little Shit (Miraculous Ladybug), Poor Life Choices, Poor Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Tikki Is So Done (Miraculous Ladybug)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23529178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ronoken/pseuds/Ronoken
Summary: Chat Noir has a new girlfriend. He can't say who it is, 'cause identities and all, but Ladybug is fine with it. Tooootally fine and not jealous. I mean, why would she be? Someone just asked her out in real life, after all.Yep.Nothing awkward happening here.A fun story about what happens when you get everything you wanted and still find yourself jealous when your superhero partner ends up dating someone who happens to be you and you don't know it.Come on, we've all been there.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Plagg & Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)
Comments: 73
Kudos: 379





	1. When you're jealous of the floozy your partner is with, but you're the floozy

Marinette stood above the city of Paris, bit her lip, and waited for the inevitable. This wasn’t a conversation she had ever wanted to have, but she needed to. It wasn’t fair to her, or to her partner, if she didn’t. He had to know, and she had to tell him.

See, the one thing she had never expected in a million years had finally happened, and she knew her world would never be the same.

That’s right.

Adrien asked her out.

So, it was actually really adorable. They had been walking home from a class field trip when he ended up walking right beside her. When Marinette looked to her other side, her designated wing woman, Alya, had vanished.

“Hey,” he said in a playful voice.

 _‘Oh God,’_ Marinette had thought, her brain locking up. ‘ _What is happening? Why is he talking to me? Here? Now? At this hour?’_

“Hey,” she said back in a shaky voice. Yeah, good response. Play it cool.

“So,” Adrien said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Um, I wanted to talk to you. About something. If you don’t mind.”

 _‘Why is he pausing like that?’_ Marinette thought. Her poker face never wavered; too-wide eyes and a gigantic grin. Perfectly natural.

“Sure! What’s up?” Maybe this was about homework, or about something from the field trip, or maybe he had questions concerning…

“Would you like to come with me to the movies this weekend? The last time we went, we never got to finish the film and I thought, why not try again?”

Concerning her. Oh God. The question was concerning HER.

Marinette looked at him and gave the only possible answer she could.

“Huwah?”

Adrien let out a small laugh and grinned as Marinette started to process what he had just said.

“So, would you?”

“Like a… Like a… Like a…?”

Inside Marinette’s head were, well, the same thing in everyone’s head, really. But if you could see her thoughts at the moment, one might see hundreds of tiny Marinette’s running around frantically, papers flying everywhere as a total system shutdown was commencing.

“She says yes,” Alya suddenly said from her other side. Marinette felt Alya’s hand on the back of her head, pushing it slightly up and down in a ‘yes’ gesture.

“Great!” Adrien said, relieved. “So, see you at two tomorrow?”

“Two is a time,” Marinette said, still grinning.

“See you then,” Adrien said as a silver sedan pulled up beside them. The back door popped open for him as he tossed his schoolbag inside and hopped in.

The Gorilla waited for Adrien to buckle up. He glanced in the rear-view at Adrien with an eyebrow raised.

Adrien saw his look, smiled, and nodded. “She said yes.”

The Gorilla gave a small smile and hit play on the car’s stereo. As they drove off, Alya and Marinette heard _Let’s Get It Started_ blasting from the speakers.

“So,” Alya said. “That just happened.”

“THAT JUST HAPPENED!” Marinette screamed. “He just! He just! He… He…”

Alya cursed as she caught a fainting Marinette. “Okay, need to work on what is considered an appropriate response to social customs, don’t we? Let’s get you home, Juliet.”

She slung Marinette’s arm over her shoulder and led the trembling, blubbering, deliriously happy girl home.

That had been earlier that day, and after Marinette spent an appropriate forty five minutes rolling on the floor of her room while screaming into her pillow (during which she subsequently blacked out), she suddenly remembered something.

Or, some _one_ , to be precise.

It was no secret that Chat Noir had a crush on Ladybug. In fact, he made sure to advertise that fact every chance he got. Whether it was by trying to lure her in with a candlelit dinner, or by confessing his undying love in television interviews, it was painfully obvious that her kitty had it bad for her.

And she, in turn, thought he was… Nice.

I mean, she loved him, but more in that familial way that made her slightly sick to her stomach when the idea of actual romance came into the picture. She cared for him deeply, in fact, she couldn’t imagine life without him.

That didn’t mean she wanted to jump his bones, though.

So, that led her to their favorite hangout rooftop. She had to tell him. She had to! It would break his heart, she knew that. Still, it was the right thing to do.

“Hey, bugaboo! What’s up?”

The right thing to do.

“Heeeey,” she said back as he landed beside her. She did her best to be casual, which was absolutely not casual at all. She tried to lean on a smokestack and missed, nearly falling flat on her face before she righted herself and stood with her hand on her hip. “Hey,” she said again.

So smooth.

She noticed the look on his face, and suddenly felt nervous. He was smiling, but there was something off about it. Something different from the usual, playful grin she had grown accustomed to. He shot her a look and said, “Hey. So, before we go on patrol, can I talk to you about something?”

 _‘Oh no,_ ’ She thought to herself. _‘He’s going to proclaim his love for me. Again. I just hope he doesn’t lay down an ultimatum.’_

“Um, sure! There was something I wanted to talk to you about, too,” she said, smiling.

Chat nodded and wandered the roof for a bit. Marinette was about to ask what was wrong when he sat down on a ledge facing her and said, “I, um, I have a date tomorrow.”

“…What?”

Well, _this_ was unexpected.

But hey, it was a good thing, right?

Chat nodded. “So yeah. I, um, I’ve been wrestling with this for a while now, and I realized that I love you, and I’ll always love you, but it’s not fair to either of us for me to keep chasing after you. I’m so sorry for that.”

Marinette smiled and said, “Hey, that’s okay Chat. It’s fine.”

Fine fine fine fine fine.

“See, there’s this girl. Um, I’d rather not say who for, um identity purposes, but she and I… I think there’s something there. I think there’s been something there for a while now, and after talking to some of my friends, I realized that if I didn’t at least try, I’d always regret not knowing, so I asked. And, um, she said yes.”

Marinette breathed a small sigh of relief. At least, she thought it was relief.

“That’s great to hear! Um, it makes what I had to say a little easier, too. Sooooo… You know that boy I keep going on about?”

Chat grabbed his chest, swooned, and in a not-good impression of her voice, said, “My heart belongs to another!” He looked at her deadpan. “That one?”

She glared at him. “Don’t be a jerk. Yes, that one. He finally asked me out. I was actually standing here trying to figure out how to tell you.”

Chat smiled. “That’s great, LB. I’m really happy for you. Heh, I guess it’s strange how things turn out.”

“Yeah,” Marinette said as a feeling she wasn’t able to quite place started bubbling deep within her. “Strange. So, what details can you share?”

“Well, we’re going to the movies tomorrow.”

“Us, too! There’s a new premiere! Love Knife part 3: Knife Harder!”

Chat nodded. “That’s the one. You’re going, too?”

Ladybug nodded, but blew it off. “Yeah, but, I mean, there’s like a dozen theaters in Paris. The chances of us running into each other at something that crowded are remote, and even if we did, the place will be swarmed with couples. So, no biggie there.”

Chat thought about it. “Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Okay, so, cool.” She gave her a genuine smile. “This is great for both of us.”

Marinette nodded, her face locked in perma-smile. “Sure is. Say, you wanna meet up afterwards? See how things went and compare notes?”

Chat squirmed a bit. “Um, I guess so? But, I don’t know that I’m comfortable talking about her like that.”

“I don’t mean in a bad way,” Marinette said, lying through her teeth.

Wait, what?

“I mean to just see if each other’s evening went well, see if we’re interested. In them. Interested in them. Where things are going. Going with them, I mean. You know what I mean?”

Chat eyed her for a second. “You’re a little jittery today, you know that?”

“Whaaaaaaat? Noooooooo,” she said convincingly.

Chat shrugged. “Okay, cool. We can meet here tomorrow night and discuss.”

“Great!” Marinette said, still smiling. “It’s a date. Now, think you can beat me to the Louvre?”

She already had her yoyo out and was swinging before he could muster a response.

Later that night, Marinette paced in her room as Tikki munched on a macaroon.

“I mean, of course I’m happy for him,” she said slightly louder than she probably meant to. “He’s a great guy and I am so happy that he’s got someone that he likes.”

Tikki continued to eat. “Mmm,” she said.

“Well, of course I want to know more!” Marinette said, gesturing to no one in particular. “What if she’s mean? What if she’s taking advantage of him? I mean, for all we know, she could be some sex-crazed monster out to seduce my poor, innocent… Partner.”

Tikki continued to eat her cookie. “Mmm,” she said through a mouthful of food.

“Exactly!” Marinette nearly shouted. “He’s playing with fire, Tikki. This girl, this so-called great person that he thinks he’s into? Who knows what’s running though her head? He needs me, Tikki. He needs me to keep him safe. I mean, that’s what this is. I’m his partner and I keep him safe.”

Tikki finished her cookie, swallowed, and said, “Sounds to me like you’re jealous.”

Marinette’s eyes went wide as she made scoffing sounds. “Wha? What are? Ohh! How? How could? Me? Me, jealous of _him_? I… Oh! Oh!”

Tikki watched all of this with an emotionless face. “Whatever you say, Marinette.”

“What would make you even think that?”

Tikki made a point of thinking about it. “Well, you didn’t care one way or the other when he was interested in you, but the second he’s interested in someone else, you blow your top. I’d say there are some jealousy issues there.”

Marinette glared at her kwami. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tikki shrugged. “Sure, the immortal goddess of creation who happens to have been with dozens upon dozens of young women in your exact situation doesn’t know anything.” She floated up to eye level. “Look, just be happy for him, okay? After all, you did just score a date with the boy of your dreams, didn’t you?”

Marinette’s eyes went glassy at that. “Oh, yeah… Yeah, point.”

So, things were fine.

Yep.

…

The fic is still going, so obviously things were not fine. You know this game.

That Saturday night, Marinette swung to their usual hangout spot, eager to share details of her date. More importantly, she was there to hear the finer points of his date.

“I wonder if it went well,” she said to herself as she touched down. She had even gone so far as to look around the theater several times, and sure enough, there were quite a few couples. It was entirely possible that they had been in the same room, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Hey,” Chat said as he dropped in a moment later. He stood and leaned on his staff as Marinette stared at him, practically vibrating.

“So, what happened?” She blurted out. Our girl is one for subtlety.

Chat blushed and looked away. “Um, it was nice.”

Marinette nodded. “Okay, okay. Nice. How nice?”

Chat turned red. “I don’t feel comfortable talking about this, honestly.”

Marinette put up her hands. “Sorry! Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel self-conscious.”

Chat shrugged and gave her a smile. “It’s okay. It’s just… The date went well, is all.”

“Oh?”

Chat shuffled his feet from nervousness. “Yeah. Um, we had a great time, and she was really nice, and, um, the movie was neat.”

Marinette nodded. “Wasn’t it awesome when he jumped down from the skylight?”

Chat grinned. “I know, right? That was, like, the coolest scene!”

“Oh, and when he kicked the diamond smuggler off the cliff? That was so cool. I loved it!”

“It did have a lot of action,” Chat said. “It was better than the second one…”

Marinette nodded. “But not as good as the first. It was a good apology movie.”

“Agreed.” He looked at her for a moment. “And how was your date?”

Marinette turned red. “Oh? My date? He was fine. I mean, he looked fine. He was okay. He was a good date. Yes. Good. It was good.”

She looked at Chat for a bit. “And what about afterwards?”

Chat blushed harder. “Um, afterwards?”

Marinette nodded, grinning.

“Well, I walked her back to her place and, um…” He turned beet red. “We said goodnight?”

Marinette giggled. “You kissed her?”

Chat rubbed the back of his head and looked away. “I don’t know if I should talk about that.”

Marinette nodded. “Quite. Whoever this mystery girl is, I’m sure she would appreciate your discretion.”

Chat eyed her. “What about you?”

Marinette bounced in place. “Okay, girls _can_ talk about that. He kissed me! We finally, actually kissed! And it was awesome!” She spun around, smiling and laughing. “It was exactly what I had hoped for.”

She stopped spinning and finally noticed his blush. “You kissed your date, too, didn’t you?”

Chat shrank a bit. “Am I a jerk if I talk about it?”

Marinette felt her heart swell. For all her partner’s over-the-top antics, he was a romantic, respectful softy. “Well, normally it would be a jerk thing for a guy to do, but considering I don’t know her, and considering that you’re my teammate, I think it’s allowed. Besides,” she said in a formal tone. “It’s important that I know.”

“Oh?” He asked. “How is that important for you to know?”

“I mean,” Marinette started, her face slightly red. “If this girl turns out to be bad news, I think I should know. This is my way of protecting you.”

“So, it’s just to keep me safe?” Chat asked, giving her the eye. “No other reason?”

“What reason would I possibly have aside from concern for you?”

Chat thought about it. “Maybe… You’re a bit jealous?”

A yoyo cracked him in the face.

“Hmmph!” Chat got out as he rolled backwards. “Geez! Okay, okay, fine. You’re totally not jealous,” he said as he got back to his feet.

Totally not jealous.

“So, despite my better judgement in telling you, yes. We kissed.”

Marinette smiled and got uncomfortably close to him. “And?”

Chat looked at her, confused. “And what?”

“How was it? Was she good? I mean, if she was _too_ good, then you might question how much practice she’s had. Just saying,” she just said.

Chat shrugged. “I, um, I’m not sure. She was, uh, nice? And she tasted like strawberries and it felt good? Aside from that, I really don’t know.”

“What?” Marinette asked, confused. “How can you not know?”

Chat twiddled his fingers. “Can I share something private with you? And can you promise not to make fun of me for it?”

Marinette instantly softened. She reached out and took his hand. “Hey, of course you can. I promise, whatever it is, I will not pick on you. What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “Nothing is wrong, but… It was my first kiss.”

Marinette’s eyes went wide. “Ooooh, so…”

Chat nodded. “I really don’t have a basis of comparison.”

“I see,” Marinette thought to herself. So, this girl, whoever she was, was taking gross advantage of her kitten’s inexperience? I mean, it wasn’t like she had a lot of room to talk. Eric Coulvert in the sixth grade hadn’t really given her a _lot_ of comparable experience that rainy day behind the bleachers, but still, this was different.

Also, he had braces. That’s fine by itself, but there were some skittles in them and… Look, it was weird.

“She didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to, did she?” Marinette asked.

Chat shook his head. “Not at all, and I didn’t do anything more than that. I just… It was really nice.”

Marinette saw the look in his eyes. “You’re really smitten with her, aren’t you?”

Chat nodded. “Well, yeah. Aside from you, she’s easily one of my best friends. She’s smart, and funny, and she can kick my butt at video games. Also, her parents are really nice.”

Marinette considered all of this. “So, why didn’t you ask out little miss perfect before?”

“Because of you.”

‘ _Oh_ ,’ Marinette thought.

“I was committed to you in my heart, but the more I spent time with her, we just, well, clicked.”

“I see,” Marinette said. “Well then, that was for the best, wasn’t it? Just… I don’t know. A girl who kisses on the first date seems a little loose, if you ask me.”

Chat frowned. “You just said you kissed yours.”

Marinette chuffed. “Yeah, but, I mean, that’s true love. And I’ve been waiting for that kiss for, like, a year. Don’t judge me.”

Chat shrugged. “Okay, whatever. I mean, it just feels like you’re holding me to a standard you aren’t committing to yourself.”

Marinette felt her eye twitching. “Excuse me? Just because you decide to let some… Hussy jump you on your first night out with her doesn’t mean it’s the same thing as waiting for true love’s kiss!”

“Hussy?!” Chat scoffed. “She’s one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life!” He gave her the critical eye. “You know what?”

“What?”

“You’re jealous,” Chat said, crossing his arms.

“I am not jealous! I am concerned!” Marinette shot back. “My best friend is letting some _floozy_ take advantage of him and he doesn’t seem capable of _seeing_ it!”

“Where the Hell is any of this even coming from?!” Chat shouted. “First, you’re all happy for me, then you act all understanding, and now you’re insulting the girl I like! You’re not making any sense, LB.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes and pointed. “Just because I’m thinking about your situation from an objective standpoint does not mean that…”

“There is nothing objective about insulting a girl you haven’t met yet,” Chat said, turning away. “I get it, you’re jealous. I was giving you all of my attention and the second I stop, the _second_ , you go on the attack!”

“Someone has to look out for you,” Marinette snapped.

“I offered to let that someone be you for a year,” Chat said in an even tone. “Now that it’s not you, you suddenly want the job?”

“I don’t want the job, or any other innuendo!” Marinette bit back.

“Look,” Chat said with a growl. “She’s a fantastic girl and I care about her a lot. And if… If I want to do things with her, and she wants to do them with me, then I’ll, I’ll do those things! I’ll do all the things!”

Admittedly, he had only a rough idea as to what those things were. Adrien was a good kid. He was curious, and he had access to the Internet, but still. Good kid.

“Oooo,” Marinette said. “Look at the big cat. Where was all this confidence before?”

“I’ll show you where it was! It was here is where it was!”

Chat needed to work on his talk-back game a bit.

“I’ll show you! The next time I see her, I’m, I’m totally gonna make out with her. How about that?”

Marinette marched right up to him and said. “Well, the next time I see _mine_ , I’m going to pin him to the wall! How’s that make _you_ feel?”

Chat met her glare with one of his own. “I’m gonna make out for an hour!”

“I’m making out for two! With tongue!” They were inches from each other at this point.

“I’m grabbing her butt!” He shouted.

 _“I’ll let him grope a boob if I want!_ ” She screamed.

Both of them stopped cold. Admittedly, this conversation had derailed a while ago.

They each stepped back and looked away, blushing madly.

“So,” Chat said in a casual voice, grabbing his cane. “I’ll take the north side.”

“Yes, good. You do that,” Marinette said, still beet red. “I’ll hit the south.”

She looked over her shoulder. “Sorry about that,” she said.

He looked back and smiled. “Yeah, it’s cool. No biggie.”

They took off, each of them focused on things they weren’t quite sure about anymore.

It did not take long for Marinette to make good on her threats. That Sunday, Adrien had come over for dinner. This went as well as could be expected in the Dupain-Cheng household, but at least Marinette had the foresight to reign her parents in ahead of time.

They, of course, did not listen.

“My little girl,” Tom said, sobbing at the table over a plate of absolutely _exquisite_ meatballs. “All grown up and being courted! You are quite the lucky man to be in her favor, yes indeed.”

Marinette buried her face in her hands while her mother kept offering Adrien more greens.

“A virile dish for a virile young man,” she sang.

“Uh, thank you?” Adrien said, taking the veggies.

Marinette’s face slammed into the table. “Please stop,” she muttered.

“No,” her mother said with a smile.

Seriously, the meatballs were just fantastic.

Afterwards, she and Adrien had gone to her room to play video games. After twenty minutes of her parents continually popping in, she finally shot a desperate look to her mother, who finally nodded in understanding. Sabine grabbed Tom and led him downstairs.

“But, they might want some more pastries!” He said as she led him away.

“Not now, dear.” Sabine said.

“What will they do without a good supply of snacks?”

Sabine sighed as she dragged him down the hall. “I’ll show you.”

“…Oh.”

*** 

For the record, they went about 87 minutes.

And yes, he did.

And yes, she did.

And some more for good measure. Use your imagination.

Eventually, they wound up cuddled together in a lump of limbs and clothing, watching a movie on her laptop. She stretched after a bit and decided that due to dehydration, this was as good a time as any to grab a juice. So, she politely slipped away, haphazardly reapplying any missing articles of clothing she could find.

No, I will not say how many. This isn’t quite that kind of story. However, she was hopped up on sugar and had been waiting for this night for a _long ass time_ , so she might have had to hunt for a while.

As she adjusted her top and made her way softly downstairs to the kitchen, she considered how much effort it would take to sew the tears that had been made to the front of her shirt. Her mind was distracted as she opened the fridge, moved a container of milk, reached past Plagg, grabbed the juice, put back the milk…

Wait.

Wait a fucking second.

Marinette froze as she stared at the kwami, who was in the process of finishing off her father’s cheese plate.

They locked eyes for a good ten seconds.

“What’s up?” He said. He took another bite of cheese.


	2. When You Realize That You Are Just Terrible At Confessing Your Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it. Everything has led to this moment. It all comes down to this.
> 
> Marinette figures things out super quick and then spends an inordinate amount of time weighing her options while Tikki and Plagg are ready to pack it in.

Marinette froze as she stared at the kwami, who was in the process of finishing off her father’s cheese plate.

They locked eyes for a good ten seconds.

“What’s up?” He said. He took another bite of cheese.

Marinette’s eye twitched.

He held up some cheese. “Want some?”

Marinette tried to speak, but her brain was on overload.

Maybe he was here for another reason? A non-Adrien reason?

Marinette sighed. She knew better. We all know better.

“The ring,” she mumbled. It was one of the few things he _hadn’t_ taken off.

“I just… Did I just do all of _that_ … To Chat Noir?”

Plagg nodded. “Yes. Also, you’re both gross.”

Marinette closed her eyes and composed herself. “Does he know who I am?”

Plagg snorted and shook his head. “Are you _kidding_? That kid is as oblivious as they come. Trust me, he has no freaking clue.” He picked up another piece of cheese. “I, however, have found this entire thing to be hilarious. Cheers.” He tossed the cheese in the air and swallowed it in one bite.

Marinette swallowed hard as she considered what her next action should be.

Option number one was to run back upstairs and redirect everything she was feeling by screaming her head off at him.

Crude, but doable.

*** 

“You _sonofabitch_!” Marinette screamed as she burst into the room. Adrien yelped and jumped out of her bed, tumbling to the floor in a heap of blankets.

“What’s wrong?” Adrien asked, panicked.

“You think you can lead me on, night after night, and then pull this on me?! What kind of a woman do you think I am?”

Adrien broke out in a cold sweat. Panicking, he said, “Mari, what are you talking about?”

“Leading me on, making me jealous, flirting with me, making me question things about my own carnal desires?!”

Adrien blinked, completely lost. “Carnal what? I don’t… Please tell me what’s happening?”

"You don't just get to come up here and take what you want! My body is a temple, not a Walmart!"

Adrien stuttered, not sure what to make of what was happening.

Marinette, tears streaming down her growling face, screamed out, “Tikki, spots on!”

Adrien’s jaw hit the floor as the girlfriend he had come to love was replaced with the woman he had loved but given up on. “Holy… You mean you’re…”

A yoyo cracked him in the face.

“Were you about to say, ‘you’re about to kick my ass for making you feel emotionally vulnerable by just being myself and not really doing anything bad?’ If so then Hell yes I was! Lucky charm!”

She threw her yoyo in the air. A massive blade, adorned with smaller but equally sharp blades, fell into her hands. She lowered her glare at Adrien.

“Run.”

***

Marinette shook her head. “No, no, I can’t do that,” she sighed. “I mean, I kind of _want_ to, but…”

But she wasn’t mad at him.

Seriously, she was mad at herself. After every terrible thing she had said, her words were coming back to her in a torrent, much to her dawning horror. While shouting at him and kicking his ass across Paris for this would be temporarily satisfying and a great way to redirect her embarrassment, it would lead to a messy reveal, and really, he hadn’t done anything wrong, had he?

Internally, she grinned. No. No, he had _not_ , thank you. Noooope. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that boy’s game. Nuh-uh. G’damn.

Focus.

Option number two would be to go upstairs and confront him with the truth, have a heartfelt confession all around and see where things would take them. Maybe like in _The Vampire and the Sea Wench?_ It was her favorite smut novel and had served as her mental template for the evening.

Very romantic. Also very doable.

***

Marinette timidly approached her bed. Within it was the love of her life.

No.

The love of her _lives_.

“Adrien?” She called in a breathy voice. He looked up, his eyes drinking her in.

“Yes, my love?”

“There’s something I think… I think I should tell you. Something important.”

He stood, the blankets dropping from him and making eye contact exceptionally hard.

“You can tell me anything, Marinette. You know that.”

She put her hands to her heart and looked down, forlorn. The only thing clothing her at this point were the conspicuously placed shadows of her room.

He approached her and held her to his rock hard frame as she looked away, her eyes half-closed as she blushed. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

“Oh?” His breath was on her neck, giving her goosebumps.

Gently, she pushed him away. “Please forgive me for not telling you earlier,” she said as she closed her eyes and called out, “Tikki, spots on!”

In a flash of red light, Ladybug was now standing before him. She meekly looked up at him and said, “I’m so sorry I didn’t reveal this sooner, but… My love for you has moved me. I can’t hide the truth anymore! I love you! All of you!”

“And I love all of you. Plagg, claws out!” In a flash of green, Adrien changed before her, transforming into the sleek, toned partner she had stolen glances at for months.

“Oh, Adrien,” she murmured as he brought her close. “We will be together forever.”

As she leaned in for a kiss, he softly said, “So, about all those mean things you said to me earlier…”

Marinette’s eyes went wide as a record-scratch could be heard in the background.

“Oh shit.”

***

Oh yeah. A romantic confession might mean acknowledging that yes indeed, she _had_ been jealous. Of herself. And a bitch. And…

“Oh, my God,” she mumbled. “ _I’m_ the floozy.”

Plagg pumped a tiny fist in the air. “Own it, pigtails. Trust me, he didn’t mind.”

Marinette shot a glare at Plagg. “Quiet, you. If you hadn’t been so careless, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

Plagg shrugged. “Who said I was careless?”

Marinette blinked.

“I mean,” Plagg said as he sniffed another slice of cheese. “I get it. We’re supposed to keep our mouths shut and all, but seriously? Once you two hit this stage, it was a matter of time. Also, my boy was feeling really conflicted about this whole thing.”

“How so?” Marinette bent down to address him better.

Plagg swallowed another bite. “Well, he’s madly in love with you, and he’s also madly in love with _you_. You were tearing him apart, so, you know.” He patted his chest and let out an adorable burp. “I pulled a mulligan. You’re welcome.”

She gave him the eye. “I’m supposed to believe that you purposefully hid yourself in my fridge so that I would find you and have a grand revelation, and that this _wasn't_ actually a massive mess-up on your part?”

Plagg sweated a little. “…Yes?”

She glared harder.

After a moment, he dropped his grin and said, “Okay, fine. You win. This was my bad, but seriously? Please don’t tell Tikki. She’ll eat me.”

Marinette rubbed her face. “Well, regardless… Thank you? I think? Gaaah! I still have to face up to what I did!”

She wasn’t quite ready to swallow that much pride tonight.

Marinette considered her options as Plagg looked at her with concern. “Um, Marinette? You okay?”

“All those horrible things I said about her, erm, me. I said… I said some _not nice_ things,” Marinette muttered as she shook her head, eyes still wide. “Oh, shit. I was just awful to him. That’s not me! Okay, maybe it’s a little me, but really, that’s how I treat my best friend? That’s what I do to the best guy I know? How are we supposed to get married now? I mean, of course we still will, _especially_ now.” She sniggered and turned a little red before shaking her head clear. “Focus, Mari… Damn. This won’t do.”

Option number three would be to burn the house down and start over. She could use Master Fu to get a new identity and start fresh in the south of France. That would be a sure-fire way to cover the embarrassment of what had just occurred.

***

Marinette pulled her hoodie over her head and adjusted her rucksack as she looked back at the burned bakery, her lost love, and the life she had left behind.

“Where will we go now?” Tikki asked, her face covered in soot from the fire.

Marinette looked on from under her hoodie. The thunder was rolling above her head and the rain was starting to come down in a drizzle.

“Wherever the wind takes us, Tikki. I’m a loner, now. A loner with you. Loners. Lonerly.”

“Marinette?” Tikki asked, concerned for her master’s mental health.

“We’ll travel from town to town, righting wrongs, fighting injustice, and all the while, running from the secret demons that lay within our own, tortured hearts.”

“Marinette? Please, this is going way too far.”

Marinette shook her head. “Marinette is dead, Tikki. She died in the fire. She died… A long time ago.” A streak of lightning and a crash of thunder accentuated her pause. “It’s Jessica now. Jessica Steel-Tiger.”

Tikki closed her eyes and rubbed her tiny temples. “Oh, Jesus Christ.”

***

Marinette sighed. She couldn’t burn the bakery down.

At least, she didn’t _think_ she could. She kept the option on the table, just in case.

And then there was option four, which meant that Marinette took a moment to do something she normally didn’t.

She considered the situation as rationally as she could.

 _‘Okay, what has happened that was really so bad?’_ She thought to herself.

_‘I mean, does this really change anything about how I feel about him?’_

She considered it. She realized that honestly? It didn’t. If this had happened a few weeks ago it might have been more shocking, but she was still riding a bit of an endorphin high so things weren’t _quite_ as shocking as they should have been at the moment. This was just about the right amount of shocked that she wanted to be.

She thought about how he, how each of them, how them? This was confusing. She thought about his reactions over the last few days.

 _‘He didn’t want to share details until I pushed him,’_ she thought. ‘ _He was being sweet about it. He also said we were best friends, and that I was smart, and pretty, and that I was special. He put smart first.’_

Marinette smiled warmly.

_‘Oh shit, I was his first kiss?! If that’s true, then I was his first a **lot** of things. Oh wow. Ohhhh wow.’ I wonder, does this make me a slut? No. I mean, a little? No. Maybe? I can handle maybe.'_

Her smile grew.

_‘I’m both of their first kisses. And both of them love me, and he defended me! Me as me! And I don’t have to choose. This…’_

She started giggling.

_‘This is so fucking rad.’_

“Okay,” she said, looking down at Plagg. “I think I know how to handle this. You.” She pointed at Plagg. “Keep quiet and quit 'helping', got it?”

Plagg nodded. “Um, sure? But, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna tell him? You should really just tell him. Trust me. I know how this goes.”

Marinette looked back towards the hallway that led to the attic ladder. “Oh, I’ll tell him, but maybe not right this second. Let me do this at my own pace, okay?”

As it would happen, while Plagg was frowning at where things were going, Tikki chose that precise moment to come down and see if there were any extra cookies.

“Hi Marinette, Adrien seems to be dozing, so I was wondering if…”

She noticed Plagg floating right in front of Marinette.

She looked from one to the other, and then back again.

“Sup?” He asked.

Tikki stared mutely for three seconds, and then snapped.

“What the **_FUCK_** , Plagg?!”

Both Marinette and Plagg recoiled at that. “Um, sugarcube? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you cuss like that before.”

“I’ve never heard her cuss at all,” Marinette said, shocked.

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you act this _stupid_ before!” Tikki snapped, pointing an adorable hand at Plagg. “All that work, all that effort, for what? So you could ruin all of it? You just had to go blow everything for some _fucking_ _cheese,_ didn't you? You stupid, idiotic…!”

Tikki growled and float-charged at Plagg with her tiny teeth bared for battle, but Marinette caught her in time.

“It’s okay, Tikki.”

Tikki instantly deflated. She looked back to Marinette with tears in her eyes. “I am so, _so_ sorry Marinette,” She sobbed. “This was not supposed to happen! We keep your identities secret for protection! You’re too important to risk, no matter what! I didn’t realize he had snuck away, and…” A haunted look passed over Tikki’s face. “Oh God, this is my fault, isn’t it?”

“Nope!” Plagg said, waving. “This one was me. It was my turn to mess up.”

Tikki looked up. “Your turn? It’s not… There are no turns!”

“What about Victoria?” Plagg said.

“THAT WAS DIFFERENT! She was dying and he deserved to… You should have consulted me, first!”

“Victoria?” Marinette asked, confused.

Tikki waved her off. “It was a while ago. Totally unrelated.”

“Dying?!” Mari asked, concerned.

Plagg nodded. “Yeah, it was a whole thing. Look, I’m my own cat, sugarcube.” Plagg smiled, and then looked off to the side dramatically. “No one can understand my actions. I’m like the wind. Elusive. Unknowable.”

“Stupid,” Tikki finished, crossing her arms.

Marinette shook her head as she felt a tension headache coming on. “Stop it, will you? It’s cool. I just… Both of you, let me deal with this my way, okay?”

Tikki wiped her face as both kwamis nodded at the same time. “Yes, ma’am.”

Marinette smiled. Sometimes, it was good to be the guardian of the miraculous.

“So, I can’t sit on this. I just can’t.” She looked to Tikki. “I’m sorry, but if I know, it’s only fair that he knows.”

Tikki wanted to argue, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “You know how I feel about that, but… If it makes you happy, then I guess I can’t stop you.” She shot a look at Plagg. “And just so we’re clear? You. Are. Dead. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sometime in the next fifty years I’m going to make you pay for this. I know the day and time. You don’t.”

Plagg shot her a nervous grin. “I love you.”

“I’m not in the mood,” Tikki crossed her arms and looked away.

“Okay,” Marinette said, focusing on the boy upstairs. “I have a plan. It’s a good one, too.”

Tikki floated up in front of Marinette. “Let’s hear it.”

“What?" Marinette asked, confused.

"Let's hear your plan," Tikki said. She had a look that reminded Marinette of her mother.

"Don’t you trust me?” Marinette asked.

“When fighting an akuma? Absolutely. You're the guardian and we are your kwamis. We will always do as you command. With romance?” Tikki gave her a deadpan stare. “Tell us your plan.”

“Yeah, lay it on us, boss,” Plagg said as he grabbed some cheese for himself and a macaroon from the counter for Tikki. She grumbled, but she took it.

“All right," Marinette said, rubbing her hands together. "How’s this…”

***

The next night, Chat Noir was sitting on their favorite rooftop, twirling his cane and whistling a tune. He heard the soft sound of his partner landing behind him and smiled. He turned and said, “Evening, LB.”

Ladybug gave him a warm smile and said, “Evening yourself.” She cringed slightly at her attempt at flirting, but waved it off. She walked right up to him and before he could say anything, she wrapped him in a hug.

Chat, surprised, hugged her back. “Hey,” he said. “What’s this for?”

She rested against him for a second and just took in the feel of him, the smell, everything. He was hers alright. She supposed he had always been, but seeing him now and knowing what she knew, well, it was like looking at a moving-eye picture. Once you saw it, you couldn’t _un_ see it.

Of _course_ he was Adrien. Who _else_ could he have been? No wonder she had felt so strongly for him.

Or was it that of _course_ Adrien was Chat Noir, and no wonder she had felt so strongly for _him_?

Marinette didn’t care. It really didn’t matter at this point, anyway.

She pulled back and said, “I’m sorry for how I acted the other night.”

Now, normally, this is where she would do her big reveal, they would laugh, and kiss, and things would end perfectly.

“I’m sure this girl of yours is beautiful, wonderful, smart, beautiful, talented, witty, beautiful, a sharp dresser, and perfect for you.” Marinette nodded to herself. She didn’t think she had gone overboard. Yeah. That was the right amount of build. Totally.

Chat gave a small sigh and nodded. “Hey, no big deal, okay? I mean, we were both a little out of line.”

“Truce?” She offered him her hand.

“Truce,” he said, a relieved smile on his face.

***

“Wow! This works,” Tikki said. “Nice, Marinette. Just do this and you’re good.”

“She’s right,” Plagg said.

“I’m always right,” Tikki corrected him.

“Tell that to Victoria,” Plagg mumbled.

“I’m not done,” Marinette said, grinning.

“Wait,” Tikki said, concerned. “You’re not?”

***

“So,” Ladybug asked, a playful smile across her lips. She reached up and traced her finger along his chest. “How far did you get with her?”

Chat sputtered and turned beet red. “Wha… What? That’s not an appropriate question!”

Ladybug pouted. “I think it’s a _very_ appropriate question. You’re my partner, my other half. I need to know if you’ve been… Compromised.”

Chat Noir was turning a color she didn’t know people could turn.

“My lady,” he stammered. “I really don’t feel comfortable telling you this. It feels like it would be an invasion of her privacy.”

“Did you invade _her_ privacy?”

Marinette cringed the second she said it. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was implying, but she knew it was dirty and now that it was out there, she was rolling with it. Like you do.

Chat glared. “LB! I’m not telling you anything like that!”

Ladybug made a point of thinking about that for a moment. “What if I made it worth your while?”

“Whaaaaaaat do you mean?” He asked, confused. Chat felt his higher functions shorting out from where this conversation had gone. She was acting very un-Ladybug and it was confusing him.

“Well,” Ladybug said, her fingers lazily tapping on the side of her yoyo, “if you answer a question for me, I’ll answer a question for you.”

Chat looked away. “I wouldn’t want to violate your privacy.”

She took a step closer. Uncomfortably closer.

“You sure about that, kitty cat?” She looked at the expression on his face and internally snickered.

Clearly, this evening, the part of Marinette was being played by best-life Marinette.

“Well…” he looked off to the side. Ladybug took this as a confirmation.

“So,” she said, smiling. “You two make out?”

Chat swallowed and nodded. “Um, yes. Yes, we did. I think that’s safe to share.”

She grinned. “Us too,” she said as she turned and strolled away. “In fact, we did quite a bit. Making out. We did the making out. With our mouths.”

***

Plagg was holding up a paw. “Stop. Christ, just stop.”

“What?” Marinette said, confused. “This is good. This is exactly what needs to happen.”

Tikki flew up, flustered. “In what universe is this a good plan? You were doing great! Why drag this out? What is the point?”

Marinette frowned. “The point is I feel emotionally vulnerable right now for how I acted, and I figured… You know…”

Tikki frowned. “What? That if you made him uncomfortable too it would magically cancel everything out?”

Marinette grinned and shrugged.

Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

“Seriously, this can work,” Marinette said, a stubborn look on her face.

Plagg snickered. “No, it won’t, but continue.”

***

Chat felt his suit becoming slightly warmer than before. “O…Oh?”

Ladybug nodded. “I have to admit, I didn’t think I was _that_ kind of girl, but apparently, I am. I _totally_ am.” She cracked her knuckles. “We did stuff. Like, so much stuff. All the stuff. Like, 75% of the stuff? I know. I know stuff.”

Our girl is a smooth one.

“My lady,” Chat said, clearly uncomfortable. “You don’t have to…” He paused. She looked back, an eyebrow raised. “… _What_ kind of girl, exactly?”

She grinned.

She sauntered over and whispered something in his ear. His eyes went wide.

“MY LADY,” he said, shocked. He looked at her as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“My turn,” she said.

“Wait, what?” He asked. “I didn’t ask a question.”

“You asked what kind of girl, so I answered. My turn. What’s her name?” Ladybug said.

Chat locked up. “That’s not safe to say.”

“Oh, pooh.” Ladybug said, her arms crossed. “There are millions of people in Paris. If I tossed out just a first name, you wouldn’t have any proof of who it was, would you?”

“I might guess,” he said. “And I might get it right. You might, too.”

She shrugged. “You might.”

“When did I become the responsible one about this?” He asked, flustered.

She watched him and didn’t say anything. It was a trick she had learned from Ms. Bustier one afternoon while helping her clean the classroom; if you just shut up and stared, eventually teens, no matter how resolute, would crack. Her teacher swore by it.

“I won’t tell you her name,” he said, defiantly.

Marinette smiled, impressed by how gentlemanly he was acting.

“Can I guess?” She asked.

Chat looked away.

“I’m thinking… Chloé Bourgeois.”

Chat stumbled and choked. “Ch… Chloé? What the _Hell_ , LB?”

“Not Chloé then?” She put her finger to her lips and pretended to think about it. “Maybe… Oh! Do you remember that Rose girl? Princess Fragrance, wasn’t it?”

Chat shook her head. “Nice try, but she’s, um, she’s pretty taken, from what I’ve seen.”

Ladybug shrugged. “Then I guess that leaves… Marinette?”

Chat froze.

“Ooooh,” Ladybug said with a teasing note to her voice. “The Dupain-Cheng girl? Didn’t you have dinner with her family once?”

Chat turned red and looked away.

“You bad, bad kitty,” she said, her voice purring.

“Why are you doing this to me?” He said, his voice ready to crack.

She backed up a bit and her smile softened. “Well, because I figured I owed you.”

He shot her a shocked look. “How is treating me like this, torturing me, making me massively uncomfortable… How does this equate to you owing me?”

She put her hand on her hip. “Ask a question.”

“A question?”

She looked him dead in the eye. “Any question. Any. Question. And just this once, no matter what it is, no matter what you want, I will truthfully answer. I promise. I owe you, trust me.”

He looked at her for the longest time, and she could see a wave of emotions flowing across his face. Finally, he cleared his throat, opened his mouth…

 _‘This is it,_ ’ she thought. ‘ _He’ll ask my real name and I’ll detransform and we’ll be married and…’_

***

“Time out,” Plagg said. Tikki had her head in her hands and was mumbling something Marinette couldn’t make out.

“What?” Marinette said, flustered. “This would be where the big reveal happens.”

Plagg floated up, shaking his head. “Okay, seriously? With the road you just paved, let me show you exactly where you’re gonna drive off the cliff. I’ll take it from here. Listen.”

***

“Why are you bullying me so much?”

Marinette nearly tripped in place.

“Wait, what?”

“All of this,” Adrien said, an angry tone in his voice. “You’ve been weird, aggressive, mean, invasive, even borderline perverted, and none of it makes any sense. Did I do something to you?”

“No. No! That’s not what this is!” She shook her head no and flailed her arms in front of her.

“Then what is it?” He shouted. “You’re my best friend! I respect the Hell out of you and I have tried so, so hard to always put you first in everything, but this, all of this tonight, this week… It feels like I’m just a target for you. And that’s not what we are. At least, I didn’t think we were.”

Ladybug sighed. “Dammit, Chat. This wasn’t supposed to go… Look, you know when you think something through and in your head it’s all awesome, and then you start it and you realize you grossly miscalculated, but you keep going because for some stupid reason your brain switches to ride or die mode and you can’t stop your mouth and you just watch as you burn everything down around you and I had a totally different direction for this evening and I think I just burned everything to the _**fucking** _ground!"

Mari felt herself tear up a little as she caught her breath. This was not what she had hoped for. She had envisioned being playful, making him sweat a little, revealing, and then… Not this, though. This was the opposite.

“Tikki’s right,” she sniffed. “When it comes to relationships, I _am_ a dumpster fire.”

Chat turned his back on Marinette and extended his staff. “I think from now on we should patrol separately, if you don’t mind.”

He launched into the night, and out of her heart. Forever.

“Chat!” She screamed after him. “ADRIEEEEEEN!”

***

“And that is how you will send your relationship crashing into the ground. On fire.” To emphasize this, Plagg made a whooshing sound and smacked one paw into the other. "Kaboosh!"

Marinette frowned at him. “Seriously? You think this is _that_ bad?”

Tikki looked up. “Marinette? I want you to think about something very, very carefully. When, in the entire time I have known you, has just one of your romantic plans ever worked? Give me one example. Just one.”

Marinette opened her mouth to answer, and then shut it. She did this several times, much like a fish. Finally, she sighed and slumped against the counter facing the fridge and slid to the floor. She put her face in her hands and said, “You’re right. If I did that… God, if I went that route he’d think I’m a bully and a pervert. I can’t… What do I do?”

Tikki and Plagg looked at each other. They had been in this situation a thousand times before, and each time, no matter how different it seemingly was, it always felt the same.

“Well,” Tikki said as she floated down to Marinette. “Let’s go with simple. Do you love him?”

Marinette laughed. “Of course I do,” she said. “With everything I have.”

Plagg floated to Tikki’s side. “And he loves you. Seriously, I didn’t want to make this weird, but you should see how many pictures he has of you. It’s like living with a serial killer.”

"You're not helping," Tikki grumbled.

Marinette chuckled and wiped her face. “Okay, okay… So. You two are the all-powerful tiny gods that live in our pockets. Give me your advice. I’ll take it.”

Tikki and Plagg nodded. “Finally,” Plagg said, relieved. “Okay, for real, this is what you need to do.”

"Wait," Tikki said. "You're taking point?"

"What?" Plagg asked, slightly offended. "We've done this how many times? Trust me." He looked to Marinette. "Trust me."

***

Marinette quietly entered her bedroom and sat down beside the snoozing Adrien that was sprawled out in her bed. She took a moment to look at him in the moonlight coming through her skylight before gently shaking him awake.

“Hey,” she said, smiling.

He blinked, momentarily confused. He then remembered where he was and what had happened and smiled back. “Hey yourself,” he said. "Is it time for me to leave? I don't want to get in trouble with your parents."

Sabine, meanwhile, was downstairs designing wedding invitations and going over possible cake designs on her laptop.

"Sounds like they're moving again," Sabine said as she glanced up at the creaky ceiling above their bedroom. "Hmmm. Where are the red and black templates?"

"Red and black?" Tom asked as he sat down beside her with two cups of cocoa. He handed one to Sabine, who murmured a thank you as she sipped. "Why those colors?"

"No reason," Sabine said, smiling to herself. 

Sorry. Back to our couple.

Marinette took Adrien's hand and said, "can we go to the roof? I want to show you something.”

Adrien shrugged. “Uh, sure? Just let me find my…”

She handed him a wad of clothes. “I found them.”

He blushed. “Uh, thanks.” He started to dress and then looked at her, slightly embarrassed.

“Don’t mind me,” she said, staring hard.

Once he was dressed, they climbed onto her balcony and took a moment to take in the view. Marinette loved it up here, and late at night, the skyline was really amazing.

“So,” Adrien said. “Is this what you wanted to show me?”

Marinette shook her head. “First, I owe you an apology.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Uh, for what?”

She took a breath.

“You were right,” she said. “I was jealous. I was jealous because I love your attention, and I love our dynamic, and I was afraid that if things changed for us in the real world, then things would change for us when we’re together. I was rotating between being happy for you and sad for us, and instead of just thinking things through or talking to you or any number of rational choices, I panicked and went with the worst reaction, first.”

“Marinette?” Adrien asked, confused. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

She looked him in the eye and sighed. “I’m sorry. You deserved better than this, and I’ve not been a good partner, or friend, or girlfriend.”

“Wait, what?”

And then she kissed him.

He froze, surprised, as she pressed her lips to his. Somewhere in his brain, a thought registered that she was warm, and soft, and still tasted like strawberries.

After a moment, they slowly separated. Adrien moved a hair out of Marinette's eyes and said, “I guess this means you like me?”

She gave him a small smile and stepped back. “You silly, oblivious, wonderful boy, I don’t _like_ you… Spots On.”

Chat’s eyes went wide. In a flash of light, Ladybug stood before him.

“…I love you.”

He stared, shocked, his brain unable to process what was happening in front of him.

“You… You’re… We’re… What?”

She nodded, a slight blush on her cheeks. “Admittedly, this did not go the way I had planned. After our fight, I was worried, and…”

His face suddenly widened in horror. “Wait. You knew who I was?”

She quickly put up a hand. “Only after, um, after we did stuff. When I went downstairs, I might have ran into Plagg in the fridge. Honest. Everything tonight was… Um… Normal. I just thought this was fair, since he accidentally outed you, and all.”

Adrien put his hand to his eyes and groaned. “That _stupid_ …!”

Marinette grabbed him by his collar and pulled him close. “There’s time for that later. Right now… I’m sorry. For everything. I don’t… You’re my first serious relationship and I am not doing this right at all.”

Adrien softened instantly. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, this is my first serious relationship, too.”

She looked him in the eyes. “I promise, in the future if something is bothering me, I’ll just tell you. No games, no sitting on it, no wild mood swings. Just open, honest, communication.”

Adrien smiled warmly. “That sounds great to me.”

HA!

Dude.

You… Do you even relationship? Oh man. Oh, you’re so screwed. Soooo screwed.

Marinette smiled and nodded. “Good. Spots off.” A flash of light, and PJ Marinette was back in his arms. “Now, before you have to leave, more kissing, please.”

“This whole time,” he said with a slight smile. “My lady, you’re more devious than I thought.”

“Well, what do you know?” She blushed. “I apparently _am_ that kind of girl."

"Beg pardon?" Adrien asked, confused again.

Marinette shot him a grin. "Any complaints?”

Adrien shook his head, still confused, but rolling with it. As he leaned in, he whispered, “So you know, I love you, too.”

She smiled.

She already knew.

From the skylight, Tikki and Plagg sat side by side and watched on, content.

“This could have gone better,” Plagg said.

“Don’t even start with me,” Tikki snapped. “This whole mess was your fault.”

Plagg shrugged. “It usually is, but look. They’re together, aren’t they?”

Tikki watched the happy couple kiss. Adrien picked up a surprised Marinette and spun her around. They laughed together as he set her down, and then proceeded to kiss her some more.

“I suppose it did work out in the end. Thank God she took our advice.”

Plagg smiled. “They usually do.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Thanks for backing me up tonight, sugarcube.” Plagg said.

“Of course I did,” Tikki said. “Who else is going to clean up your messes?”

Plagg smiled contentedly at the familiar banter. “I love you, too.”

Tikki sighed and rested her head on Plagg’s shoulder. “Shut up.”

Meanwhile, their owners danced on, oblivious to the world.


End file.
